Snapdragon-powered PCs had a strange 2024. Many of the laptops received positive reviews, but overall sales did not meet expectations. It appears the market shifted in December, however, as highlighted by Qualcomm during its most recent earnings call. This week, the company shared a few pieces of information that indicate Snapdragon-powered PCs are gaining popularity.
Specifically, Copilot+ PCs with Snapdragon X chips inside sold well in the $800+ market.
"While we are still in the early phase of the transition to Copilot+ PCs, we are pleased with consumer reception for our Snapdragon X Series, which has exceeded our expectations," said Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon. "According to Circana, in December, Snapdragon X Series had more than 10% share of the greater than $800 Windows laptops in U.S. retail."
That stat has some specific caveats, such as only covering laptops rather than all PCs. It also is limited to sales in the United States. That 10% only applying to laptops over $800 also narrows the scope, but that price point is rather interesting. PCs with Snapdragon X processors offer better value than many devices that run on Intel or AMD chips. At first glance, that would suggest Snapdragon PCs would do better in the budget space than the mid-tier or premium segments, but Qualcomm hasn't targeted that price range yet. That will come with the Snapdragon X that aims to shake up the $600 laptop market.
Laptops with a Snapdragon X Elite or Snapdragon X Plus fall into higher price tiers but rate well in terms of performance and value. The best Windows laptop on the market right now is the Surface Laptop 7, which runs on a Snapdragon processor and starts at $999.99. The best laptop from CES 2025, the ASUS Zenbook A14, also runs on a Snapdragon X processor. That device will have an $899 version available later in March and the $1,099.99 model is available now.
It appears Qualcomm saw some victories to wrap up 2024, and it will be interesting to see if the trend continues in 2025.
Have Copilot+ PCs turned a corner?
Qualcomm only launched its Snapdragon X chips last year. As the company indicated in its recent earnings call, Copilot+ PCs are still in their infancy. But things did not start out well for Snapdragon X chips and Copilot+ PCs. Only 720,000 PCs with Qualcomm processors sold in Q3 24. That led to just a 0.8% share of sales in that quarter. At the time, Qualcomm chips were said to only power 1.5% of all Windows PCs.
The figures shared by Qualcomm do not cover the same exact categories as the stats we saw for Q3 24, but it appears that the company's PC efforts are trending in a positive direction.
Qualcomm also highlighted improvements for the app compatibility for Snapdragon-powered PCs. "The broader app ecosystem continues to expand, with Snapdragon-native apps now including 20 of the most popular VPNs, 50 of the most popular security and cloud storage apps as well as new applications for creators," said the company.
With the Snapdragon X Elite and Snapdragon X Plus hitting their stride and the Snapdragon X on the way, there will be a much larger selection of laptops with Qualcomm chips in 2025 than in previous years. "We have now over 80 design wins launched or in development across the X series, and we're targeting commercialization of more than 100 devices," said the company during its earnings call.
